A Tough Result In A Thrilling Game: Harrison And Sanfilippo Debut In Narrow Loss
NPL NSW Men's | Round 30
We closed out our regular season campaign with a 2-1 loss to SD Raiders at Seymour Shaw on Sunday, in a game where we had the better of the chances but couldn't find that extra bit of composure in front of goal when it mattered.
The Raiders started brightly and had their moments early, with Danijel Nizic called into action a couple of times to keep things level. But we found the breakthrough against the run of play in the 42nd minute, Lachlan Macdonald picking out Richard Shoueiki with a lovely through ball, and Shoueiki kept his cool to slot past the keeper and send us in 1-0 up at the break.
Richie celebrating his goal in front of a packed Seymour Shaw
The Raiders came out with real purpose after halftime, and they were rewarded in the 72nd minute when a shot took a cruel deflection off Yianni Nicolaou and looped in for an unfortunate own goal to level things up. We pushed hard for a response, with Shoueiki twice denied by a sharp Michael Figueira and Danny Choi's follow up effort drifting just wide of the mark after coming off the bench. Despite the pressure, we couldn't find the goal our performance deserved, and a Raiders substitute struck deep in stoppage time to snatch all three points in the 90+3rd minute.
Pietro & Bryce making their senior debut
It's a tough way to sign off the home and away season, but it doesn't change our position. We'd already locked in our spot in the Championship Series under David Perkovic heading into the final round, and the focus now shifts fully to finals football.
It was also a big day for two of our own, with Bryce Harrison and Pietro Sanfilippo both making their first-team debuts. Plenty to be proud of from both, and it's a great sign for the future.
Result: SD Raiders 2 – 1 Sutherland Sharks FC
Scorers: Richard Shoueiki 42'
Venue: Seymour Shaw, Sunday 30 August 2026
We're straight back into it on Wednesday night, 7:30pm at Seymour Shaw, for our Elimination Final against Manly United. Come down and get behind the boys 🦈